1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which comprises a laminator device that allows lamination of print media, and to a method for printing and laminating media.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known in the state of the art are laminator apparatus which allow lamination or plasticization of a picture or other plot, i.e. cover it with at least one layer of a protective film which is generally a transparent plastic film.
In order to laminate a plot printed in a printing apparatus, prior art devices required the user to wait until the end of the printing operation, manually take the printed plot from the printer to a stand-alone laminator, and carefully introduce the plot into the latter.
This method has the drawback of requiring user intervention between the printing and the laminating operations, especially in the case of professional use of the devices when it is also costly.
Also known, e.g. from U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,296, is a small format ID card printer which includes a laminating station; each ID card is printed and dried and then fed to the laminating station.
It would be desirable to have a more versatile apparatus, e.g. an apparatus which can be used for printing and laminating plots of different sizes, and this in unattended manner.
In particular, it would be desirable to be able to perform in-line lamination for different lengths of plot especially in large format printing apparatus, such as inkjet plotters.
In this kind of apparatus, handling of the media is in itself complicated due to its size and behaviour, and in-line lamination adds to the problems to be solved; furthermore, since these printers are generally for professional use, it is desirable to provide enhanced versatility and unattended operation as far as possible.
On the other hand, it would be desirable to have an apparatus in which these advantages can be achieved using different printing and laminating techniques, including for example hot lamination.